Ante-natal deaths: mother too dies at Bowring

Twenty-five-year-old Nazeema Parveen, who lost her baby after allegedly being denied timely treatment at the Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital on Thursday, died early on Saturday.

Doctors said she breathed her last around 1.30 a.m. in the hospital’s intensive care unit.

Syed Afroz, Parveen’s husband, told

The Hindu he was informed about the death at about 11 a.m. on Saturday. “We do not know what happened…This is sheer negligence by doctors.”

‘Rare emergency’

Parveen, who was informed about the foetal death on Friday morning, delivered the baby around 4.30 p.m. the same day. Doctors, who denied negligence, said she developed amniotic fluid embolism (AFE) soon after the delivery.

“AFE is a rare obstetric emergency in which amniotic fluid, foetal cells, hair, or other debris enters the maternal circulation, causing cardio-respiratory collapse. Although we kept her on ventilator support in the ICU and did our best to save her, we could not,” a senior doctor explained.

“Although the foetus had died, we had to wait for the mother to deliver normally as norms do not permit us to operate upon such patients,” he added.

Ante-natal deaths

The hospital has been in the news after two ante-natal deaths were reported from there on Friday. Two similar cases were reported in the last three days.

The hospital is facing a severe shortage of nurses and doctors. There is a single emergency operation theatre to attend to nearly 30 emergencies.

Although doctors attributed Thursday’s ante-natal deaths to complications that the expectant mothers — Parveen and Amudha (28) — had developed, relatives alleged they did not get timely medical attention.

O.S. Siddappa, Dean and director of Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI), to which Bowring Hospital is attached, was not reachable for comment.

Sources said he visited the hospital on Saturday and studied the case sheet of Parveen. “He has assured us of getting more manpower in the next 15 days so that the second emergency OT can be reopened,” the sources added.

‘Can’t afford a case’

Mr. Afroz said his wife’s body had been taken to Bhadravati, their hometown.

Asked whether he would file a case against the hospital, he said he could not afford a legal battle.